after-school organization routine

yup, i do realize we are on the down hill slide into summer and soon (very soon) school will be out. but recently i've received a few questions from readers asking how i stay on top of the after-school backpack mess.

i sooooo hear you! we get a lot of papers coming home too. and there is a ton to stay on top of; homework, school event dates, and more.

here is how i keep us organized when it comes to after-school.

first things first - everything gets unloaded from the car. ev-er-y-thing. during the week, we spend a lot of time in the car. i love to start a new day with a fresh clean slate. so, everything gets unloaded - backpacks, my purse, toys, blankets, snacks, water bottles, items i grabbed while out running errands, etc. everything is out of the car and either put away or placed in the trash/recycling and backpacks are plopped onto the counter.

while the kids are having a snack, i quickly go through the backpacks and my purse....

how do i dissect a backpack? just like the car, everything gets dumped out and sorted. i remove lunch boxes for cleaning...

then i go through communication folders...

when it comes to the kids schoolwork and what i keep/toss...it's tough. i'd love to keep it all, but if i did i would have to rent an offsite storage space. :-) i'm not too brutal about it up front. some things stick around for a few weeks. like these paper reader books for our kindergartener...

our kindergarten classes had a president's day unit at school so for a whole week we were seeing paper readers and other art work all about our country's first presidents. i like to keep the reader books for practicing.

however, when it comes to art work or other school work...i pick the pieces i'd like to display for a while as well as the pieces i would like to take a photo of before recycling. you don't even want to ask about (or see) my current bins and bins (and biiiiins) of kid's artwork. it's really ridiculous. i'm going to get that squared away once we are settled in a new home. for now, i take a photo of the art or school work i would like to keep for a future book, display any cute items in the kitchen art cabinet, and everything else gets recycled - right away.

for example, this drawing is so darn cute....

doesn't it look just like George Washington? :-)

this is something i definitely want a photo of and will display for a little while. but then it will go into the recycling bin. i'd love to keep it all, trust me. such a hard mommy decision. 

once the backpack papers have been sorted, this is what i'm left with...

belongs to kids = paper readers that move to their bedroom bookshelves for practice reading.

recycling = not going to keep. leaves house immediately.

for mommy = school bills to pay, events to add to our calendar, school newsletters, etc.

our environmentally-friendly school asks that the kids not use plastic water bottles and instead bring re-useable bottles. each child needs to have a water bottle at school every day. so the next thing i do is wash their water bottles and set them out to dry. the next morning they are ready for re-filling...

our 2nd grader has homework every night. when i unpack his backpack, i check the homework binder...

then pull out any worksheets or assignments he needs to get done. i place his binder on the side of our kitchen counter. this is a sign that he does have homework and after he eats a snack, he'll grab the papers and head to the kitchen table to get it done...

now that everything from today has been sorted, i get everything ready for the next day. not only do we bring water bottles to school each day, we also pack a snack for our kiddos. just something small. yesterday i packed them a little container of snack mix; peanut butter crackers, goldfish, yogurt pretzels, graham cracker shapes, a few raisins, a mini-orange, and 2 frosted animals cookies. the animal cookies are a big treat for them...

if i'm giving them a cold snack, i'll pack it in the morning as i'm getting lunches ready. sometimes i pack mini-carrots with ranch dressing or string cheese.

once the dry snack is packed up, it goes into their front backpack pocket...where they know they can their snack each day...

when the backpacks are ready for the next school day, i place them on this little table in our living room...

the kitchen is close-by so in the morning it's easy for me to grab the backpacks to add their lunch and water bottles.

with the backpacks now unloaded and ready for the next day, i tackle my purse...

amazing how much junk can land in a purse over the course of one day. all i had yesterday was a stack of receipts for recycling...

all clean...

i sit my purse on the cabinets here above our make-shift cubby...

that is the door to the garage. meaning i can grab and go...the purse is clean and ready for another day!

speaking of our make-shift cubbies. don't you love how the kids come home and toss their shoes everywhere. this is the scene every day at our house....

our 2nd grader drops his shoes a mere 2 feet from the cabinet where his shoes are supposed to go.

ah well! :-)

once the bags are unpacked and ready for another school day, i lay out their clothing as well...

the boys go to school every day, while our 3 year old only attends pre-school a couple days a week. that's why you don't see her clothing here. i typically get her dressed in the morning as she gets out of the crib. the boys attend a private school and their uniform is easy enough to lay out the night before. in the morning, they come down to the living room and know where to find their clothes, get dressed and we're ready for another productive school day.

i hope that answered your question as to how this family operates in the school backpack department. if you have any great after-school organization tips, feel free to share!

oh! - and don't forget to enter the shutterfly photo book giveaway! you can enter through tonight and i'll announce the winner tomorrow. good luck!

(i linked up with tatertots & jello)